- By Laura Kvigstad, Auckland Council reporter
Funded by New Zealand on Air
November had the highest number of road deaths for Auckland in the last five years with the majority happening outside the car.
At the Auckland Transport (AT) board meeting on December 1, acting chair Wayne Donnelly gave an impassioned speech asking what it would take for Aucklanders to drive responsibly after nine deaths on Auckland’s roads this past November.
“What is it going to take to create intolerance for driving too fast or driving recklessly?” Donnelly asked.
He said all of the deaths were tragic and each death on Auckland’s roads had families grieving the loss of a loved one.
At the Transport and Infrastructure committee later in the day, Cr Angela Dalton asked for details from AT around the deaths.
“I just wanted to know if you had the analysis of if (road deaths) were due to speed, driver distraction or quality of the road and were they outside of the car accidents in terms of hitting a pedestrian or a cyclist?” Dalton asked.
She also wanted to know if speed reductions had played a part in reducing harm.
Chief executive officer Mark Lambert said that the majority of deaths in November happened outside of cars but did not have details on other factors.
“We have seen a very positive improvement where we have had some speed reductions,” Lambert said.
Earlier in the meeting, Lambert reported that speed limit reductions on treated roads has reduced fatalities by 48 per cent and speed reductions on rural roads reduced fatalities by 30 per cent.
Cr Richard Hills said AT was delaying projects that prioritised safety and thought of the recent passing of a 19-year-old cyclist, Levi James.
“It feels like we are delaying more projects that include cycle safety,” Hills said.
Lambert responded that safety was top of mind for AT but that safety projects required funding.
This year is currently tracking to be one of the deadliest years for road deaths in New Zealand in a decade with 351 deaths recorded so far.
